Shannon Snyder gets fit

Sarasota City Commissioner Shannon Snyder is an imposing figure. Well over 6 feet tall and 270 pounds, Snyder has an easy smile and a soft voice. In a little more than a year he has lost in excess of 100 pounds - and he is fit.

Snyder’s marriage fell apart in 2012. That moment changed his life. “You have a choice,” he said. “You can just wallow in it or you can embrace it. I chose to embrace it and I’ve been consistently working out and changing my eating habits, and just moving forward.”

He admitted doing way too much sitting in the past, but the weight gain didn’t happen overnight.

“It came on over a 15-year period just slowly and got to a point that I really needed to do something about it,” he said and added there is hope for those needing to lose more than 100 pounds. There was a time when he couldn’t walk any distance. His first attempt to walk the Ringling Bridge ended in failure. Now he jogs it.

City Commissioner Shannon Snyder

"You have to start slow,” he said. “Maybe keep a log. It’s simple things, maybe just don’t have a dessert, then start cutting things out of your eating habits that you shouldn’t be doing.”

Snyder said you have to keep consistently moving forward with different exercise routines. Once you accomplish something and it gets stale, step it up a notch.

During his first month of getting fit, he limited his workout to riding his bike. It was all he could do, along with altering his eating habits. This allowed his body to start changing. “I used to think that the more you did, the more you lost,” he said, “but, that’s not how it works.”

Snyder said he had a lot to learn. He read, got into walking, then power walking. As the weight came off, the pain in his hips and knees subsided to the point that he could jog. Even his sleep apnea disappeared.

"I think the whole weight loss thing has been dummied down,” Snyder observed. "People think that they can just buy a machine and that will take it off for them or a pills going to get it off for them and its not going to do it.”

A beefier Shannon Snyder in 2011.

He explained, “It’s the simplest rule. If you’re going to maintain your weight you have to do 30 minutes a day and if you want to lose weight you have to do 60 minutes. You got to consistently do the exercise and change your eating habits,” he said. “It’s not hard, but it's just not going to happen overnight.” He has come to terms with that. “In our society people are so frustrated where they’re at, they want instant results, it’s taken me a year of steady, consistent work to get where I’m at right now.”

He still wants to lose an additional 60 pounds and it’s going to take him a year. But, he is optimistic. “I feel great physically, but I look back to 100 pounds ago and there’s a lot of regret and lost time.”

Snyder served 25 years with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and two years ago was elected to the Sarasota City Commission.

If you know of a person in our community who deserves recognition for winning a personal battle, I would love to hear from you.

Send me an email: aredmonde@aol.com

Alix Redmonde

Alix Redmonde has been a fitness expert for more than 25 years and has taught fitness on three continents. She has written for magazines including Men’s Exercise, Exercise for Men Only, Fitness, Shape and Elle. She has also appeared on the Food Network, CBNC, WNYW-TV, among others, promoting a healthy lifestyle. Redmonde is coauthor of the book “It’s Great to be Different,” which teaches children confidence, esteem and self-respect.
Redmonde lives in Sarasota with her three dogs, six cats, two doves and a thoroughbred horse.
She can be reached by email

Last modified: May 1, 2013
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